UNDERCOVER agents have infiltrated all three stag hunts which operate in West Somerset in a bid to provide evidence to support a complete hunting ban, the Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA) revealed this week.

Devon and Somerset Staghounds, Quantocks Staghounds, and Tiverton Staghounds are the only remaining red deer hunts in the country.

Deer hunting per se has been banned since the Hunting Act 2004 but exemptions are allowed, which the HSA calls ‘loopholes’ in the law.

They include using two dogs to chase deer for ‘research and observation’ by the hunt as it monitors the health of herds on Exmoor and the Quantocks, or to flush out an animal to be immediately shot, and for the rescue of an injured animal to be humanely destroyed.

Trail hunting is also permitted, where the hounds follow a pre-laid scent through the countryside.

Pressure from anti-hunt groups has been building on the Labour Government to close the ‘loopholes’ and also outlaw trail hunting, which HSA said was used as ‘cover’ by some hunts.

The Government is expected within weeks to start publicly consulting on a full ban.

Now, the HSA has revealed how last autumn it launched an undercover operation by infiltrating all three of the local stag hunts.

A spokesperson said: “Over the last few years, hunt sabs have taken unprecedented action against the three Westcountry stag hunts, saving lives and exposing the depravity of the hunting, killing, and ritual butchery of stags and hinds in our national parks.

“Aside from the obvious cruelty involved, this investigation exposes the way loopholes in the Hunting Act are cynically exploited to allow the continued hunting of deer, 20 years after it was banned.

“In particular, the investigation will reveal the way stag hunts switch between multiple Hunting Act exemptions on the same day and even during the same hunt, in the pursuit of their quarry.

“One minute they claim to be ‘trail hunting’, the next minute they are flushing to guns, rescuing an injured animal, or, most absurdly of all, engaged in scientific research.

“It would be funny if it were not so sickeningly cruel.

“The hunters are constantly adapting to evade accountability or charges.

“Our investigation will reveal why a ban on trail hunting, though urgently needed, will not be enough in itself to stop these hardened, committed hunters in their tracks.”

The spring stag hunting season begins at the start of March, although the HSA said in reality it was only a few summer months when red deer stags and hinds were left alone.

The HSA and its supporter groups have actively opposed all forms of hunting with hounds since 1963, which it said gave it more than 60 years’ experience of ‘developing tactics’ and ‘sabotaging all types of bloodsports’.

The spokesperson said: “Only our comprehensive set of proposals will really end hunting with hounds.

“We are the only people outside the hunting community who understand how hunts have operated both before and after the passing of the Hunting Act.”